Dubai Emirates Holidays is to be franchised internationally as part of ambitious plans “to be a profitable tour operator serving 1 million customers by 2016”.
The company will offer online booking for the first time through newly designed, market specific websites (emiratesholidays.com) that will be up-and-running by June this year. Currently, Emirates generates no online sales despite, it says, servicing over 100,000 customers a year.
Speaking at the first Emirates Hotel Partnership Forum at Atlantis The Palm yesterday, Marc Bennett said that the company “will be bookable in a class tour-operating way,” which he continued would be achieved by “digitally-enhancing the business”.
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The business will seek to control its own distribution and where possible penetrate emerging markets where there are currently no true tour operators.
In the regulated markets it will franchise, using existing licensing expertise and knowledge. In the unregulated markets, however, it will seek exclusive GSA (general sales agent) partners and utilise newly developed technology to capitalise on growing mobile use. The company says 18% of users in Asia and 14% in Africa use mobile phones to search the internet.
“We are already doing it in India and Nigeria and have had a go in Iran which is unearthing new business for us,” Bennett confirms.
Emirates Holidays currently service 500,000 customers a year distributing holidays and Dubai products in 30 source markets.
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